April 24, 2007

Wind program gets hands-on tools
Donated wind energy turbines will help with ‘nuts and bolts’ part
of training classes

By KATHY GRAY
of the Chronicle

     A flatbed truck rumbled into the Columbia Gorge Community College parking lot April 18 with treasure for the fledgling renewable energy training program: two wind turbines begging to be torn apart and put back together again over and over.
The turbines were a gift from AES Corporation in California. They were delivered to the college with the help of a north-bound truck owned by Cardinal Glass in Odell, and unloaded with a hoist brought to the site by Crestline Construction, which is doing ground work on the future Health Sciences building.
     The turbines are a smaller, older version of the wind towers rising all over the Mid-Columbia as demand for clean, renewable energy soars.
     “The bolts, gears, gear wear and overall geometry are all similar,” said Dr. Roy Torley, one of three instructors for the six-month pilot wind program. An 8,500-pound Windmatic and a 1,500-pound Enertec make up the industrial gift.
Modern turbines are larger and use the wind more efficiently, noted student Tristan Shell-Spurling.
     “These are a scaled-down, simplified version,” he said.
     The core technology is the same, Torley added. Peripheral technology is where technicians will see a difference.
     “That’s where it becomes proprietary quickly,” Torley said. “Vestus, for example, has its own proprietary technology. And UPC is using its own turbines.”
     The gift offers huge benefits for the renewable energy technician trainees, who are just halfway through the pilot program, which ends in June.
     “We’ll be able to see how it all goes together, how it all works,” said Shell-Spurling. “We’ve been talking a lot about theory, now we can actually do hands-on work.”
     Shell-Spurling, who moved to The Dalles from Yamhill to take the course, was working as an Oregon Department of Forestry wildland firefighter when he saw an article about the training program.
     “It sounded like a really neat program, something I could do almost anywhere — anywhere the wind blows.”
     The course has been going pretty well, he added.
     “It’s been a pretty intense course, fairly fast-paced, trying to gather as much knowledge as we can in a short time.”
     The course has also brought together people with a variety of skill and knowledge levels, Torley noted, creating a challenge for the instructors.
     Tammy Leatherbury is one of two women in the class. She worked as a truck driver in Roosevelt, Wash., hauling garbage for Rabanco.
     “I heard the guys talking [about the course] on the CB radio,” she said.
In the midst of empty nest syndrome, Leatherbury decided the training program would be a good challenge, and offer the prospect of a good payday. It would also mean a more physically demanding job, said the triathlon competitor, adding that she’s drawn to challenges.
     “Maybe I can get rid of my trucker’s butt,” she said, laughing. The fact that wind turbines are going up right in her neighborhood was also a key factor.
“I love Roosevelt and I want to stay,” she said.
     Both Leatherbury and Shell-Spurling feel confident there will be jobs waiting for them in the fast-growing wind energy industry when they complete the program in June.
     This pilot program is the first phase of wind energy training at the college, designed as a rapid response to West Coast technician needs. Next year, the college will begin offering one-year certificates and two-year degree programs.